The Quadruple Cross
by boswifedeb
Summary: Ever notice how trouble just seems to find some people? Matt Houston is one of those people. While on vacation in Hawaii, Matt (along with Vince Novelli) comes across a floating crime scene. The gang from the Five-0 task force end up involved and with the help of Matt and Vince, end up solving a very complicated crime. *Immediately follows "Christmas Present". Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**The Quadruple Cross**

****This story immediately follows "Christmas Present"****

**CHAPTER 1**

"They're here! They're here!" Nine year old Tony Novelli was running through the house announcing the arrival of Matt and CJ Houston. Tony and Matt had been best buds ever since they met and young Novelli idolized him. He wanted to be just like his hero: a cowboy and a private investigator. He flung open the front door and tore down the steps jumping into Matt's arms.

"Hey bud, how's it goin'?" Matt gave the boy a big hug, then set him down on the driveway. "Think you can help me get CJ in the house?" He walked around to the other side of the car and opened his very-pregnant wife's door.

Tony leaned in and gave his Aunt CJ a big hug. "Wow! You're getting really big, CJ!" She smiled and shook her head.

"Thanks for reminding me, Tony; I had almost managed to forget it." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and took Matt's outstretched hand. He helped her out of the car and the two started up the walk. Tony shut the car door behind them.

The other members of the Novelli family had made it to the front porch: Vince, Matt's best friend and his wife Isabella, Mama Rosa Novelli - Vince's mom, and the other three Novelli boys: Paul, Michael, and Vince, Jr. As Matt helped CJ up the steps she was embraced by Mama. "Look how beautiful you are! Motherhood agrees with you, no?" She still had a thick Italian accent even after all the years she had spent in the US.

As Mama and Isabella walked CJ into the house, Vince and Matt shook hands. "Oh boy, it won't be too much longer till you're changing poopy diapers and making bottles, man!" Vince was laughing.

Matt was beaming. "I can't wait, Vince. I know she's going to be just as pretty and smart as her Mama." They walked down to the rental car and got the luggage out of the trunk with the help of the boys.

"So did the last ultrasound prove your case?" Vince hefted one of CJ's bags onto his shoulder and they started back up the sidewalk.

"No, the little stinker keeps mooning us." Matt was laughing. "But I just know it's a girl."

"You and CJ will be staying in my room." Paul led the way down the hall and into the second door on the left.

"I hate to put you out of your room, Paul." Matt sat the bags down and looked at Vince's oldest son. "I believe you're trying to get tall on me, aren't you?" He looked down at the boy. "But I'm still taller." They both laughed.

"I don't mind bunking with Michael. It's worth it to have you here with us." He headed on out of the room to go see CJ, who was sitting in the living room being brought up to date on everything by young Tony.

Paul walked over to her and leaned down, giving her a hug and kiss. "You look great!"

"No, I look like a beached whale."

"Nonsense," Matt knelt down beside her, "You're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"And you never tell a fib, do you Matt?" The couple kissed. "So how are you boys doing?" CJ looked at the Novelli boys who were stair-stepped in size and age: fifteen year old Paul, thirteen year old Michael, eleven year old Vince, Jr., and nine year old Tony. All four nodded except for Tony. "I'm great – especially now that you're here!" CJ just shook her head.

"Matt tells me that the kid is still mooning you." Vince couldn't believe that Matt was going to be a dad before too much longer.

"Yep, he is." She looked up at Matt.

"She is, you mean." He smiled at his wife. They had argued back and forth about the sex of the baby since first finding out that CJ was pregnant. Everyone in the room cracked up.

"Isabella, are you sure we won't be in the way?" CJ had originally planned to stay at a hotel, but the Novelli women would have no part of it. They wanted to be able to keep an eye on her.

"Not at all. It will give us more opportunity to talk." Isabella looked over at her husband. "So are you two still planning on going diving?"

"If he's game." Vince looked at Matt, who nodded.

"I am if you are." He looked down at CJ. "As long as you think you'll be okay."

"I'll be with Mama and Isabella so you know I'll be fine." She reached up and took his hand. Matt had always been protective of her – even when they were children. But now that they were married and she was carrying their child, he was even more protective – something that she had never thought possible.

"Guess we are." He grinned over at Vince. "It's been quite a while since I've been – gosh, at least three or four years."

"It's like riding a bicycle – you never forget." Vince looked over at the boys. "And you guys will be in school." He grinned as the boys moaned.

"Aw c'mon, Dad, can't we please skip school – just this once?" Michael loved diving and often went with his dad.

"Nope, you guys have school." He winked at Matt. The two of them didn't get to spend time together very often anymore and they had been planning this trip for a couple of months.

Matt's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. "Hmm, it's Marty. Wonder what's up?" He answered. "Hey, Marty. Yeah, we got here just a little while ago. Uh huh. Yeah? That's great; I was hoping it would work out. Uh huh. How're the rest of the guys?" Matt had hired the Hoffmann brothers, Marty and Pat, as well as Ollie Burckhardt as cowboys on the ranch in Texas. "Good. Yeah, that sounds like just what we wanted. Alright, tell 'em I said hello – and Madre Rosa, too, I don't want to get in trouble." He laughed. Madre Rosa was the housekeeper at the Texas ranch who had practically raised Matt. "Alright. 'Bye." He hung up the phone. Looking at his wife he said, "Looks like we're right on target for the fall calving. Oh that reminds me, Tony, I promised to show you some pictures, didn't I?" He grinned at the expression on the boy's face. "Let me go get the laptop." Walking back to the bedroom accompanied by Tony, Matt was trying to field a dozen questions at once. "Tell you what, little man, look at the pictures and then I think you'll know the answers." They walked back into the living room and Matt sat down on the couch with all of the boys leaning over his shoulder watching. He brought up the pictures of the ranch.

"Alright. This is Reaper," he showed the picture of the bull, "and this is Jonas. They're Brahman bulls. Now these girls here…," he pulled up a picture of some of the cows, "are the Gelbvieh cows I was telling you about."

"Those are pretty." Isabella was looking at the pictures as well.

"And here's a picture of Brian helping us herd the cows the day they came in." Brian Landers had been in Matt and CJ's temporary custody for six weeks. Matt had found his mother who had been missing for over a month and had put her through a drug rehab program. Brian was now back with his mother and they seemed to be doing just fine.

"Wow! When can I do that?" Tony had wanted to be a cowboy since he met Matt almost four years earlier.

"Well, let's see…maybe next summer you could come and help us move them to other pastures. How would that be?"

Tony's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"If it's okay with your folks, yeah." Matt knew that Tony was a pretty good rider – he had taught him not long after they met.

"That's a ways off, Tony, we'll have to see." Vince winked at Matt and nodded.

"Who is that? Wait a minute – where did you get the beard?!" Tony couldn't believe his eyes.

Matt cracked up. "That's what happens when you get lazy and don't shave for a month, pard."

Vince stood up and walked over. "I gotta see this. Wow! That's one heck of a beard, man. Not bad."

"I want to see, too." Matt took the computer over and knelt down by Mama so she could see the pictures. When he got to the one with the beard her mouth dropped open. "You look pretty good." She turned and ran her hand over his cheek, where the stubble was already starting to appear again, even though he had shaved that morning. "But I like this face better – such cute dimples." She patted his cheek and he blushed, making everyone crack up. He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

Later on that night, after the boys had gone to bed, the adults were sitting out on the patio behind the house watching the moonlight dance on the waves. Matt and CJ were snuggled up together in a lounge chair.

"So you say the cows are on target for a fall calving?" Vince knew absolutely nothing about cows but thought it sounded like a pretty interesting business.

"Yeah, they are. I've got the ranch split into two herds: one for fall calving and the other for spring. We'll turn Jonas loose with the cows in the second herd the first part of July and that should put us at about April for the spring herd." Matt put his arm around CJ. "And of course this heifer will be due about June." He looked down at his wife.

"MOO!" She reached up and kissed him.

Vince laughed and shook his head. "You better be glad she's got a good sense of humor."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

After the boys left for school the next morning, Matt kissed CJ goodbye and he and Vince loaded up the van with scuba gear and set out. As they rode across the waves onboard the Novelli's boat, Vince was telling Matt about the spot they would be diving in. "It's about ninety feet deep. They call it the Mahi Wreck - a one hundred seventy six foot long old minelayer that they sunk back in '86. There are white-spotted eagle rays and turtles there. Lots of coral, too."

Matt nodded. As he looked back up ahead of them, he pointed. "What do you think they're up to?" Vince looked up to see a boat that was slowly circling, but neither man could see anyone behind the wheel. They exchanged a look. "Something's wrong." Vince nodded and slowed down as they approached. There wasn't a dive flag or buoy in sight.

"I'll dive in and get it stopped." Matt took off the t-shirt he was wearing and slipped over the side of the boat.

"Be careful. If anything happens to you, all of the women back at the house will kill me." Vince gave Matt a look.

"Yes, dear." Matt used his best henpecked voice and waited for the boat to circle back towards him, then grabbed hold of the diving platform on the back and pulled himself up. He stepped over the back of the boat and went up to kill the switch. Meanwhile Vince dropped anchor.

"See anybody on there?" He watched as Matt carefully looked into the boat's cabin.

"No, but you better call the Coast Guard. There's a lot of blood down below." Matt made sure not to touch anything else: he had already touched the key and his footprints were on the boat. He didn't see a body anywhere. He carefully went back the way he had come and slipped off the boat, swimming back over to the boat his friend was on.

"So what's it look like?" Vince had radioed the Coast Guard and given them their position.

"A whole lotta blood. No body. No sign of anything else out of the ordinary." He stood thinking for a minute, then walked over to his gear that was laying in the floor of the boat and started putting it on.

"What're you doing?" Vince knew Matt well enough to know that his sense of curiosity had often gotten him in trouble.

"I'm gonna go down and take a look, see if there's a body down there." He put on his mask and put the regulator in his mouth and checked to make sure it was working properly.

"Has it occurred to you that there might be somebody down there that did whatever caused all that blood?" Vince stood with his hands on his hips.

"Yep, but it also occurred to me that somebody could be hurt." Matt went over the side of the boat and was gone, leaving Vince to mumble a few choice words.

As he waited for Matt to resurface and for the Coast Guard to arrive, Vince thought about how much Matt had changed – but also how much he hadn't. He never seemed to be afraid of anything. No matter how many times he had been shot, stabbed, beaten up, or even hit by cars, the man was fearless.

Three minutes had passed since Matt dove in the water and Vince's mood was not improving in the slightest. Just when he was getting really worried, Matt reappeared and climbed back into the boat, removing his mask and regulator.

"Well, what did you see?"

"There's a body down there. The guy was shot with a spear gun and he's been tied to the wreck with a chain." He looked at Vince. "Why is it that no matter where I go, something happens?"

"Like Hoyt says, Houston, "Lousy PI's are like lightning rods."" He knew that was sure to get a response from him. Matt made an impolite gesture at him and grinned. "Be careful or I'll tell your wife what you did."

"Oh well." He looked up and motioned his head toward shore. "The Coasties are here." The two men watched as the boat drew near. "Oh boy, talk about trouble." Standing at the front of the cutter was Steve McGarrett, head of the 5-0 Task Force. When he recognized Matt a smile spread across his face.

"What are you doing, Houston, trying to bring me more business?" He boarded Vince's boat and shook hands with the private investigator and Vince. "So what have we got?"

Matt motioned to the boat. "A lotta blood below deck over there and a body in a dive suit – looks like he was killed with a spear gun. He's chained to the wreck down there."

"Oh boy." McGarrett went back over to the cutter and picked up some dive gear. Matt put his mask back on, donned the pair of gloves McGarrett handed him, and put the regulator in his mouth. The two men dove into the water along with a couple of divers from the Coast Guard cutter. Vince remained up top and was giving the information to the commander of the cutter.

Down below, Matt and Steve neared the body. McGarrett was checking out the chain where it was attached to the wreckage and then the wound from the spear gun. The diver had a mesh dive bag over his shoulder. Matt pointed to it and Steve indicated that he should remove it. As he did, Matt looked inside: several of what appeared to be gold coins were inside along with a camera. The two investigators started back up to the boats and resurfaced next to Vince's boat. They climbed back on board and Matt handed the bag to the cop who looked inside it. "Well this day just got a lot more interesting." He removed the camera and examined it: a water-proof dive camera. "Maybe we'll get something we can use off of here." Matt nodded.

McGarrett got an evidence bag from the cutter and put the dive bag and its contents inside, then boarded the other boat and began looking around.

"I turned off the key, so you'll probably find my prints there." Matt sat down on the side of the boat and gave his information to the commander. Steve nodded, then stepped down below deck to check out the cabin. He looked into the closet and found another body, that of a female in her mid to late twenties. Coming back up top, he hollered at the commander. "We've got another body on here – in the closet." He stepped back over onto Vince's boat since the two had been warped together.

"So you two were just out here for a dive this morning?" He sat down and took a towel from one of the Coast Guard crew and began drying off.

"Yeah, didn't even make it into the water. Just as we got close to the wreck Houston saw the boat circling." Vince popped the top on a cold drink and handed one to Matt and Steve.

"How's CJ doing? Mama told me she was expecting." He grinned at Matt.

"She doing great – complaining about her size of course."

"How far along is she?"

"Twenty three weeks." Matt was beaming.

"Yeah before we know it we're gonna get bombarded with baby pictures." Vince was laughing at Matt, who pulled his phone out of his gear.

"Actually…" He brought up a picture of the last ultrasound and showed it to Steve.

"It's absolutely amazing." He grinned and handed the phone back to Matt. "You gotta remember to show that to Danny. And of course he's going to want to know if you're still married." All three of them laughed about that crack. He looked back over at the boat that was now a crime scene. "I'm sorry your dive got ruined."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Matt looked over at the boat.

"I know of another place close by we can go, don't worry." Vince clapped his buddy on the back.

"Well, I guess we better get this floating crime scene towed back into port. You guys have fun on your dive. I'll call you and let you know what we find out." Steve walked over to the side and untied the boat from Vince's.

"Thanks." Matt and Vince watched as he boarded the cutter where the body of the diver was now onboard and they slowly pulled off towing the bloody boat behind them.

"Let's go see if we can find a nice, quiet, murder-free dive site, Ace." Vince turned back to the wheel of the boat and fired up the engine.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

When Matt and Vince got back to the Novelli home later that day, Matt called the restaurant. CJ had gone with Mama and Isabella to open. "How did I know you two would manage to get into some kind of trouble?" She rolled her eyes and told Isabella and Mama.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault – Vince picked the dive site." He ducked as Vince threw a t-shirt at him. CJ could hear the two of them carrying on popping each other like a couple of school boys.

"You two are just so mature." She giggled.

"And just think, CJ; the other day you were telling me I was getting old." He chuckled. "We'll be headed that way in a few minutes. Love you."

"Love you, too. 'Bye." She hung up the phone and wondered if he would find a way to get into even more mischief.

The two men arrived at the restaurant and while Vince started working getting ready for the dinner rush, Matt and CJ went for a walk on the beach. They had been married on the beach right behind the restaurant. After a while they sat down on the sand and watched the waves for a bit before heading back. When they got there, Mama had set up a special table for them out on the sand, just as she had a few months back, right before CJ found out she was pregnant. After a wonderful dinner, they sat on the beach watching the world go by. Vince gave Matt the keys to his van so that he could take CJ home. When they arrived, the Novelli boys were having a pillow fight instead of doing homework. Matt looked at CJ and grinned. "Guess we better get used to this now, huh?" She nodded and they got the boys quieted down and working. In a couple of hours they all had their homework done and CJ had started a load of laundry for Isabella. The Novellis arrived home about 10:30 to find the boys quietly watching TV while Matt and CJ were curled up on the couch asleep.

The next morning as the young couple were sitting on the patio drinking coffee with Mama, Matt's phone rang. "Hey Steve, what's up?"

"I thought you might be interested in what we got on the bodies yesterday. The man was Alec Stewart, 30, from over on Molokai. He was a dive master. The woman was Alani Pika, 28, same address. She was murdered with what the ME says was a spear from a spear gun. Somebody must have pulled it out and ditched it. We didn't find it on the boat." He leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk.

"What about the camera and coins?" Matt stood up and walked out onto the beach.

"There are some pictures of the couple on there that Stewart took – you can see him holding it out in front of them. And there were some pictures of the Mahi wreck. That's it. As far as the coins, they're the real deal - old Spanish doubloons."

"Really? I wonder where he came by them – and why didn't the people who killed him take them? They've gotta be worth a bundle."

"Good question. I'd like to know myself. Anyway that's what we've got so far." He looked up as Danny came into his office. "Uh oh, gotta go – the gnome just walked in."

Matt cracked up. "Well tell him I said better a gnome than a troll. Talk to you later." He hung up and walked back over to the ladies and told them what McGarrett had said.

"It really is strange that they didn't take the coins." CJ sat and pondered it. "You don't think he killed her and then himself do you?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? But there wasn't a spear gun around him, so it doesn't seem very likely."

Later on, Matt drove Mama and CJ around as they went shopping. As he was following along behind them, he saw a coin shop. "Hey Babe, I'm going to go in here for a minute. I'll catch back up with you." CJ looked at the shop that he was going into and shook her head and smiled. Mama looked over at her. "You know, he really can't help himself." They both laughed and walked on through the shops.

As Matt walked through the front door, the door chime announced him. An older man who appeared to be Japanese came through the door from the back room. "May I help you, sir?"

Matt was looking in the display case near the front door. "Yes sir, you might be able to do just that. Can you tell me about Spanish doubloons?"

The older man laughed. "Please tell me no one has tried to talk you into buying some."

"No sir, a friend of mine recently acquired some and I was just wondering about their history. I understand that they were minted not only in Spain but in some of its colonies as well, is that right?"

"Yes they were – but your friend most likely has been taken in by a swindler. Very few doubloons are available anymore."

"The ones that he has are the real deal – they've been authenticated." Matt continued to walk around the shop looking as he talked to the man. He looked up into the older man's face as he said the last and noticed a surprised look.

"Well then he has been most fortunate. They are very rare."

"That's what I thought. I don't know who he got them from. Who do you think might have sold them?"

"I really couldn't say, sir. I haven't personally seen one in almost thirty years – and I deal with old coin collections on a daily basis." Matt thought that he detected a slight amount of fear in the old man's expression. "Is there anything I can help you find today?"

"No sir, I just wanted your opinion on the matter. Thanks a lot." He smiled at the man and walked out of the door and pulled out his phone and called McGarrett. Danny answered the phone instead. "How's it going, gnome?" Matt just couldn't resist. He could just picture the short man puffing out his chest.

"It WAS going pretty good until some lousy private eye showed back up here and started the whole gnome business all over again. It had finally settled down." As mad as he wanted to be, he couldn't help but laugh. "What's going on with you – did you find another body?"

"No, I haven't. But I did go into a coin shop on," he looked at the street sign, "Young Street. I was asking an older guy about Spanish doubloons and he seemed to get kind of nervous."

"Oh really? Young Street, huh? Okay, I'll pass that on to Steve. By the way, how is CJ doing?"

"Right now she and Mama are shopping."

"You poor thing. I guess that makes up for the gnome deal." He cracked up.

"Yeah, she's twenty three weeks along – complaining about the size of her belly. I'm sure you know all about that."

"Yep, been there done that. Congratulations. I'll tell Steve about the coin guy. Thanks for the tip."

"No problem, bud. Talk to you later." Matt hung up and was trying to catch up with CJ and Mama. He didn't notice the two Oriental men who stepped out of an alley and began following him.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

After Mama and CJ had finished shopping, CJ was tired and ready for lunch. They headed back to the Novelli house and were eating out on the patio when Matt looked up and noticed two Oriental men who were clearly out of place on the beach. He was keeping an eye on them: something just didn't feel right. "You two ladies go on in the house." CJ looked up at her husband and started to say something. "CJ, do it now, but just look casual, okay? Please?" She knew by the look on his face that something was wrong. Mama stood up as did CJ and they both went in. Once they were safely inside, Matt stood up, went onto the beach and turned to the left, as if going for a walk. He could feel the eyes of the two men on him.

Matt rammed his hands down in the pockets of his jeans and grabbed the knife that he had in his left pocket. He looked over toward the ocean, slightly turning to the right, and slipped the hand with the knife in it out of his pocket. Slowly he opened it up and slipped it into his right hand. He heard the footsteps behind him speed up and he quickly turned around – and found himself staring down the barrels of two nine millimeter pistols. Neither man said a word as they drew nearer. When they were within fifteen feet, the taller man raised his pistol and smiled as he was about to pull the trigger. Quick as a flash, Matt threw the knife at his chest and ducked down, running as he did so. He tackled the shorter man and the pistols of both men fired, the pistol of the taller man harmlessly into the sand and that of the shorter into the air.

Matt punched the man that he had tackled, grabbed his gun, and received a blow to the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. The man hit Matt with a karate chop to the neck, knocking him out, then took off running. Some of the beach-goers ran away screaming while others ran toward the scuffle. The police were called and when Matt came to, CJ and Mama were kneeling beside him with worried looks on their faces.

As Matt sat on the back bumper of the ambulance that had been called a familiar silver Camaro pulled up in the Novelli's driveway and McGarrett and Williams ran out onto the beach behind the house. Once they saw that Matt was safe, they slowed down. "What happened?" McGarrett stood next to Matt who was holding an ice pack on the side of his neck.

"This guy," Matt motioned to the dead man on the beach, "and his friend showed up while we were out on the patio eating lunch. They were both wearing suits. Obviously they didn't belong on the beach." He finished telling the two cops what had happened. McGarrett pushed the ice pack aside and looked at Matt's neck where a very colorful bruise was beginning to appear.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Danny squatted down next to the private investigator.

"Yeah, I'm fine - just pissed that he managed to knock me out so damn easy. But I did get this." He reached into the back of the ambulance and pulled out a pistol that was lying on a paper towel.

McGarrett grinned. "I'd say you did just fine, Houston." He picked up the pistol with a pen and looked at it as Danny headed back to the car to get an evidence bag. Once it was inside the bag, Matt headed back down the beach with his arm around CJ and sat back down on the patio behind the Novelli house.

After filing the report with HPD, Matt and CJ went into the house with Mama. Although she had stayed calm out on the beach, once inside CJ burst into tears. Matt pulled her into his arms. "Shhh. It's okay, Babe. Come on." He walked her over to the couch and the pair sat down. Mama went to get her a glass of water and sat down on the couch on the other side of her. As she took a sip of the water, Matt rubbed her back. "You don't need to be getting upset like that CJ." He looked at his wife's tear-stained face. "I'm sorry Babe, but I didn't want them to hurt you or Mama."

She nodded. "I know why you did what you did, Matt." CJ put her head over onto his shoulder. "But I don't understand why we can't just have a peaceful life like everyone else. Why do things like this always happen to us?"

Matt kissed the top of her head and looked at Mama. "CJ, if he hadn't noticed the two men when they first came up the beach, all three of us might be dead right now. I don't know why these things happen, but they do. Maybe they happen to you two because you can handle it better than other people." She smiled at the pair. "There's never a dull moment with you two, is there?" Matt smiled over at her and pulled his wife closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. Mama got up and went back into the kitchen. CJ kicked off her sandals and pulled her feet up on the couch, settling in against Matt's chest and listening to his heartbeat. When Mama came back in from the kitchen, she had dozed off and Matt was gently rubbing her back.

Mama sat down in a chair and watched the pair. "I called Vincenzo and told him what happened." Matt nodded and continued to rub his sleeping wife's back. He looked worried. "Matt, you did what you had to do." He nodded again.

"But you know, Mama, she's right. Vince and I were joking yesterday on the boat about how things like this happen when I'm around. First the deal yesterday, and now this." He kissed the top of CJ's head again. "I've thought about quitting the detective agency, but honestly, I don't think it would make a difference. I'm not even working right now and look what happened. It was the same way while we were in Texas. I got pulled into situations. First, a guy that I grew up with was running a meth lab and ended up blowing up his house while he was inside it, then I stumbled onto a case where a politician was killing homeless people. Next I went on a raid with the Houston police trying to find Brian's mom in a drug house, and then I was asked by the police to help with a serial killer case." He shook his head.

"You've always helped people and no matter how much you want that to change, it won't. It's part of you. I used to worry everyday about Vincenzo when he was a police officer." She waved her hands. "It doesn't matter. It's all up to God: when it's your time it's your time. We don't get a say-so in the matter." He nodded again. Mama continued. "CJ knows all this already. Now that she's carrying your child, it just bothers her more. She's scared and being pregnant just makes it seem that much worse. You two will be fine." She got up, walked over to Matt and kissed him on the forehead. "God brought you two together: he's not going to tear you apart."

"Thanks, Mama." He watched as she walked back through the house and then he laid his head over on CJ's. When Mama came back through a little while later both were asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Hey, I just got an ID on the dead guy." Danny walked into Steve's office and plopped down on the couch. "He is – or rather was – Hikaru Yoru. According to our records – and the tattoo on his chest – he's a member of the Yakuza."

"Great – just what we needed." McGarrett tossed the folder that he had been looking through onto his desk and ran a hand through his hair. "Somehow I get the feeling that Houston's dust up with those two guys today has got something to do with the diver yesterday."

"Yeah, from what Mama has been telling me, they've been in Texas for the last couple of months." He stood and walked to look out the window overlooking King Street. "I doubt if he pissed off the Yakuza there."

"Now that we've got the Pershing case out of the way, I think we need to go check out that coin shop he told you about this morning." Steve stood up and stretched, heading for the door.

When they arrived at the coin shop on Young Street, the two cops got out of the car. A "CLOSED" sign was hanging in the door. They exchanged a look. McGarrett walked over to the door and used his elbow to push against it. It opened right up. Both men drew their weapons and walked into the shop. "5-0! Anybody here?" McGarrett and Williams swept the shop and found no one out front. They then headed for the door that led to the back of the shop. As they headed back, Danny saw a blood trail on the floor. He pointed to it and both men carefully avoided stepping on it as they went through the back hallway. Once they made it to the office at the back, they found out where the trail was coming from. An older Japanese man lay on the floor in a puddle of blood.

Both men holstered their weapons. "This guy matches the description that Houston gave me this morning." They looked around the office and Steve noticed that the safe that was partially hidden behind a curtain was open.

"Hey, look at this." He walked over, pulling on a pair of gloves as he did so. Danny stepped over next to him and pulled back the curtain as Steve opened the door the rest of the way. It was empty except for one coin. Steve picked it up and showed Danny: it was a gold doubloon.

Matt jerked awake as his cell phone rang. He tried to answer without waking CJ, but she was already awake. "Houston."

"Hey, it's Steve. We just came down to check out the coin shop. We found the owner in the back room dead. The safe was open and empty – except for a doubloon that was at the very back of it." He watched as Dr. Max Bergman, the ME, examined the body.

Max rolled the man onto his back. "It looks like another spear gun was used here."

"Max says it looks like a spear gun did the damage to this guy." He turned and walked back toward the front of the store and was looking around.

"So that makes three killed with a spear gun." Matt was rubbing the back of his head. "Have you learned anything else about the diver and the woman on the boat?"

"Chin just called me a couple of minutes ago. You know we said the guy was a dive master? Well, evidently he and the girl hooked up about six months ago. She's from a wealthy family over on Kauai. We also found out that he has been working on some salvage jobs. Kono is checking that out right now."

"Y'all are right on top of it." He stood up and walked toward the kitchen where he could hear Mama and CJ talking.

"I hope so. If you think of anything else let us know. Mahalo." He hung up.

Matt walked up behind the chair that CJ was sitting in, leaning over and giving her a peck on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." She looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry about earlier."

He wrapped his arms around her. "You don't have a thing in the world to be sorry about, babe." He held her tightly and gave her another kiss. They heard a car door slam and Matt started toward the living room. "It's Vince and the boys."

The Novelli men came into the house. Vince walked over to Matt's side. "Let's talk outside." Matt nodded and started to follow Vince. Tony and the other boys were talking a mile a minute to CJ, telling her all about their day.

Matt followed Vince out onto the patio. The former cop looked around to make sure no one would hear what he had to say. "Look, I've got a couple of pistols in the house. Why don't you keep one on you?"

"That's okay; I've got one in my luggage, Vince. Thanks anyway." He rubbed his neck.

"That guy left you with a nice conversation piece." He turned Matt's head to get a better look.

"It rang my chimes pretty good." Matt leaned against the brick privacy fence.

"Mama said you were out cold when she and CJ came out. They saw people running up the beach after the shots were fired and followed – then they found you."

Matt looked around. "Look Vince, I think maybe we should check into a hotel. Y'all don't need all this trouble."

"Are you nuts? You check into a hotel and I'm never going to hear the end of it – from Mama or Isabella – or the boys, for that matter." He grinned at his best friend. "Besides, we never get this kind of excitement around here – unless you're around." He laughed, but Matt didn't. "Hey, I was just joking."

"I know, Vince." Matt patted him on the shoulder. "Look, do the boys know what happened?"

"No, but I'm sure they'll find out when the news comes on – or when they see your neck. Don't try to hide it from them. Tell 'em the truth." He looked at his watch. "I've gotta get back or Isabella is going to wring my neck." Vince turned and started for the door. "Oh, by the way Isabella wanted me to thank you and CJ for helping out with the boys last night. She didn't believe them when they told her they had all their homework done." He grinned as he started back out of the house. Matt heard him yelling at the boys to be good and then the front door slammed behind him.

As he walked back inside the house, Matt was launched on by all four boys wanting to know about the bruise on his neck. "Would you believe it if I told you it was a hickey?" That sent all four of them into a round of laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

The rest of the night passed without incident and the next day Matt and CJ decided to just kick back and take it easy. Vince and Mama were opening the restaurant and Isabella took the boys to school and then came back to the house. After helping out with a few chores around the house, the couple snuggled up together on the couch and watched movies – Matt with his pistol close by. CJ gave him a hug and noticed that he had it on him. "I was wondering if you were going to start carrying it."

"After what happened yesterday I thought I should." He pulled her closer and the pair kissed. Matt ran his thumb across her cheek and then patted on her belly. "Just think, in a few weeks we're going to have somebody else to watch after."

"I know. In a way it seems like it's been a really long time since we found out, but in another way it doesn't seem like anytime." She put her head on his chest. As they sat there watching the movies, the baby started kicking so much that Matt could see CJ's belly moving. He rested his hand on it and began rubbing and the baby settled down. They both laughed.

That afternoon after the boys got home from school Matt was out on the beach playing volleyball with them while CJ and Isabella watched. "He's going to be a great dad, CJ." Isabella smiled as she watched the five of them playing.

"I know. But I can't help but think that if we had admitted how we felt about each other years ago – we would have several kids by now." CJ looked over at her friend.

"Several? How many are you two planning on having?" Both women laughed.

"Well Matt says he wants us to have enough to field our own baseball team."

"Uh huh, but he's not the one who's going to have to go through labor. If he was, he would cut down the number – a lot." Both of them laughed again. Matt left the boys and walked over to sit in a chair next to his wife.

"What's the matter – getting tired?" CJ smiled at him.

"Nope, just wanted to come over here and sit with two beautiful ladies." He leaned over and kissed her. Matt's phone rang and CJ, who had been holding onto it for him while he played volleyball, handed it to him. He looked at the ID: Hoyt.

"Hey, bud what's going on?" He hadn't talked to the police lieutenant in a couple of weeks.

"Houston, I thought I better let you know: somebody broke into your office sometime last night. Chris was late getting to work because she had an appointment and when she stepped off of the elevator she found a big mess. Whoever it was must have been looking for something."

Matt was shocked. "Did anybody get hurt?"

"No, there wasn't anybody up here. And security can't find anything on the surveillance tapes. It's almost like they were invisible."

"Okay, I'll head that way as soon as I can."

"I've got a couple of officers stationed up there now, so don't be alarmed when you get there and find them."

"Thanks a lot, Hoyt. I'll talk to you when I get there." He hung up and sat staring at his phone for a minute.

"Hon, what's wrong?" CJ saw the shocked look on his face.

"Somebody broke into the office overnight – Hoyt says it's a big mess." He stood up and started into the house, then turned back around. "CJ, I don't know if you should stay here or go back with me."

"I'm going back, Matt. You're going to need some help." She stood up and headed towards the door.

"I don't know, CJ, maybe you would be safer here."

"Matt, I'm going and that's all there is to it." She walked past him and went inside to pack.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

The five hour flight back to LA gave Matt plenty of time to think. He hadn't been working as a private investigator in LA in the last few months – the only jobs he had done had been in Texas. So who had broken into the office? Uncle Roy had been handling things there but had been out of town for the last couple of weeks on a case in San Diego. Most of the jobs he had been taking were for security systems, nothing involving criminal activity. So why the break in?

After landing in Los Angeles, Matt and CJ took a cab to the office. Not only were there two police officers there, but Chris and her fiancé, Murray Chase were there as well. After welcoming the couple back, they walked through the office with them. After checking both of the safes in the office, they found that nothing was missing. Someone had done a thorough job of searching and had left nothing untouched: even the grill on the patio had been taken apart and searched. Matt called Hoyt to let him know that nothing was missing. "It's strange, Houston. I talked to Roy after I spoke with you – he said that he hasn't had any cases that would likely trigger a break in – he's stuck to mostly security systems since you've been on vacation." Hoyt used the term vacation because he was sincerely hoping that Matt wasn't going to quit the business.

"Well, let me run something by you and see what you think." He walked out onto the patio and told Hoyt about the gold doubloons and the murders of the diver, his girlfriend, and the coin shop owner, and the attack on the beach.

"That sounds hinky all right. Are you sure you're okay?" Matt assured the lieutenant that he was. "What did McGarrett say about it?" Hoyt pulled the top off of a carton of yogurt and began eating it. Houston had put him on to eating it and it had helped out with his ulcers – a lot.

"He's like us – doesn't know what to say." Matt sat down in one of the chairs on the patio. "I'm about to go in here and go through the security footage. As many cameras as we have in this building something had to be recorded."

"Okay, I looked through it already but fresh eyes never hurt." They talked on for a few more minutes then ended the call.

Matt went back into the office and pulled up BABY – the only thing that the intruders had seemed to overlook – and that was what Matt had aimed for when he first installed the computer. It was built into the coffee table in front of the couch. Not only did it make for a comfortable place to work, but when it wasn't in use, no one would know it was there.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the security footage. Matt ran it twice, then as he yawned he saw something: the time stamp in the corner of the footage stayed the same for almost twenty minutes. He ran the video back and watched again. Sure enough there it was. The clock was stuck on 1:25 am for twenty minutes. He pulled out his cell phone and called Hoyt again.

"I found it. 1:25 am is when they did it. But they had to have tapped into the system and frozen it. They hit the security camera on the stairwell outside the penthouse." He sat back on the couch and put his arm around CJ as she sat down beside him.

"Okay, I'll get a CSI over there to check for prints and whatnot – but chances are if they were slick enough to do that with the video, they were smart enough not to leave prints. See you in a few minutes." He hung up with Matt and called down to the lab where Cheryl Crawford picked up. After telling her what he needed he headed toward the Houston building.

When he arrived, Matt and CJ as well as Murray and Chris were all trying to put the office back together. They had accomplished a good bit but still had a ways to go. "Cheryl is on her way over, Houston." He walked into the office and Matt showed him the footage. "I wasn't looking at the time stamp." Hoyt shook his head.

"I probably wouldn't have been either, but since you said you hadn't seen anybody I was looking at that instead – at least I was the third time through." He grinned at Hoyt and then looked down at his watch. "Dang! It's almost midnight. I better get CJ home. She's gotta be tired."

Chris spoke up. "I'll stay here until Cheryl gets finished."

"And I'll stay with her." Murray put his arm around her.

"Do you think you two kids can behave?" Matt wiggled his eyebrows at them, causing Murray to blush and Chris to laugh. "Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Come on CJ, let's get you home." He took his wife's hand as he waited for the elevator. "Good night." They boarded the elevator and were gone.

The next morning, Matt woke up early. He decided to let CJ sleep in and went into the kitchen for coffee. As he made his way back to the shower, his phone rang. The caller ID said McGarrett.

"Hey, Steve. What's up?" He walked back into the den so he wouldn't bother CJ.

"Vince called me earlier and told me what happened. Is everything okay?" He was sitting on the beach in the moonlight.

"Yeah, they didn't get anything. Guess they didn't find what they were looking for – whatever that was." He took a sip of the coffee, sat down on the couch and told Steve about the security footage. "There was a CSI tech checking out the stairwell when I left there last night."

"It'll be interesting to see if they find anything. We learned a little bit more about Stewart – the diver. He had some gambling debts with one of the biggest bookies on the island. We're looking into that to see if he had anything to do with the murders."

"I bet a few of those gold doubloons would pay off that debt." Matt had hit the bottom of his coffee cup and headed to the kitchen for more.

"Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Anyway, guess I better get in the bed." He yawned.

Matt laughed. "I just got out of the bed. Have a good night." He hung up and headed back for a shower.

CJ was still sleeping when Matt left the house and headed to the office. He resumed putting things back in place when it occurred to him: whoever had done the break in didn't break anything – they just took stuff apart and moved other stuff around. The whole business was strange. When Chris got in an hour later he already had just about everything put back in order.

After he had finished, Matt drove over to Hoyt's office – along with a couple of bear claws from his favorite bakery. The two sat and had breakfast together as they talked over the details of the break in. Cheryl had left a note for the lieutenant. No prints were found, but she had found nicks in the wires of the camera where they had jumped the system and frozen it. And there were marks on one of the fire doors downstairs where they had entered the building. Security had gone to check out the fire alarm but found nothing and assumed it was a fluke. Other than that, there was nothing to be found. Matt got up and walked over to the window, sipping his coffee as he watched the traffic below, and told Hoyt his thoughts about nothing in the office being broken.

"It's weird. Like they …" Matt stopped mid-sentence.

"What?" Hoyt watched as the gears clicked in Matt's head.

"Maybe they wanted me to come back here." He turned and looked at Hoyt. "Think about it. I found the boat and the diver. I led McGarrett to the coin shop owner. I got clocked on the beach. My office gets broken into here in LA and here I come to take care of it. Maybe they wanted me out of the way." He sat down as he thought it over.

"You know, that makes more sense than anything else has." Hoyt was just as baffled as Matt, but the more he thought about it the more what the PI said made sense. "So what are you going to do?"

"What do I seem to do best Hoyt? I'm going back to Hawaii to piss 'em off." He grinned.

When Matt got back to the ranch, CJ was up and around and had started a load of laundry. He kissed her as he came in the door. "I was just about to call and check up on you." She gave him a big hug.

"I've got something for you." He held out a white paper bag.

"Oh, Matt, please tell me it's not – ohhhh it is!" She had opened the bag and peered inside. "A bear claw – just what I shouldn't be eating. I'm already as big as the side of a house."

"Nonsense. Enjoy." They sat down at the kitchen table and Matt smiled as she declared war on the pastry.

"MMMM, so good." She had a blissful look on her face.

"So what do you think about going back to Hawaii?" Matt watched the expression on her face.

"Huh?" She was taken by surprise. He told her what he and Hoyt had been talking about. "Well, that does kind of make sense." She looked at the clock. "It's going to be an hour or so before the laundry is done."

"Okay." He looked at her and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. She finished the bear claw, stood up and took him by the hand and led him to the bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Matt took off in the plane about 1:00 pm Los Angeles time and CJ called Vince to let him know that they were on the way back. "Good, 'cause these kids were about to riot all day yesterday." He laughed.

After an uneventful flight, Matt and CJ landed at the airport and took a cab back to the Novelli house and reclaimed their rental car that had been left there. Vince had left the keys out back for them and they drove to the restaurant. Matt and Vince were sitting out on the beach behind the restaurant talking about what had happened. "Your theory makes more sense than anything else." Vince looked over at Matt when his phone rang. He put it on speaker.

"Hey, Steve. We're back on the island." Matt looked over at Vince and grinned.

"Man, you two would wear out the airlines on frequent flyer miles." Steve cracked up when Matt told him his theory. "You could be right. We found out that the bookie I was telling you about is hooked up with the Yakuza."

"Really? Huh. Well, what does the Japanese mafia have to do with Spanish doubloons? This is really starting to get an international flavor to it." He looked over at Vince. "And here I sit at an Italian restaurant." All three men cracked up. "Have you found out anything else about Stewart or Pika?"

"Yes, we have. That was why I called you. Stewart had been working on a salvage that was off of Kauai. Or at least that was what the company that he worked for originally told us. After a little more digging we found out that he was actually working just off the coast of Oahu – on a Spanish Galleon wreck. He had been lying to the salvage company but we checked the GPS locator on the boat that he was using. Evidently that's where he wanted folks to believe he got the doubloons, but it wasn't. Kono went to have a chat with the girl's parents and mentioned the doubloons. That's when they checked their safe – and discovered that their collection of doubloons that had been passed down for three generations was missing. So now it looks like the girl and guy both were in cahoots trying to fool the salvage company."

"And if they were trying to fool them, they might well have been trying to fool someone else – say the Yakuza, maybe." Matt and Vince exchanged a look. "Something tells me the Yakuza folks don't care to be fooled."

"Uh, no, they sure don't. So I'm thinking maybe the two guys who attacked you on the beach are the ones who killed Stewart and Pika – and most likely the coin shop owner. His name was Akio Daichi by the way." Steve walked to the outer office and grabbed a cup of coffee.

"I'm wondering how he was tied into the deal. Maybe Stewart was trying to get him to fence the coins. But that doesn't explain how they ended up in the dive bag at the bottom of the ocean." Matt shrugged his shoulders at Vince.

"Steve, how many coins were supposed to be in the Pika family's collection?" Vince was intrigued by the whole case.

"Uh, let's see…Kono's notes say twelve. There were six in the dive bag that was with Stewart, one in the safe, that leaves five unaccounted for…" No one said a word. "This has got to be one of the messiest cases."

"You've got that right." Matt pondered on it. "What about the bookie? Do you think he's got them – or could it be my other friend from the beach?"

"Right now I'd say either one. Since I don't know where your other friend is, I'm going to see about rattling the bookie's cage a little bit. Chin just walked in – I think I'll get him to help." Steve waved at the detective and he walked into the office. "I'll call you if we get anything."

"Alright. I'll keep thinking on it." Matt hung up and stretched. "You know, Vince, I don't know much about the Yakuza, but from what I've read, they tend to be a little less violent than say, the Italian mob – unless they have a really good reason."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard."

"I wonder if maybe this is how the deal went: first, Stewart gets in deep debt with the bookie. Second, he and his girlfriend hatch a scheme to pay off the debt with the doubloons. Now those things are worth a good bit, so I'm thinking they would have some left over. Third, maybe they went to Daichi, the coin shop guy, to fence the goods. Then maybe they tried to pull a fast one on the Spanish galleon wreck and make folks think there were coins there – you know, maybe they dropped a few…" Matt stopped and he and Vince looked at each other. "Vince, do you feel like taking a dive at the galleon wreck? We might find those other five coins."

"Yeah, let me tell Isabella that I'm leaving. Mama's here with her so they should be alright." He and Matt headed for the kitchen and told their wives what they were up to.

"Matt, just be careful – okay?" CJ hugged her husband.

"And that goes for you, too, Vince." Isabella kissed him and both women watched as the pair took off for the boat. They looked at each other and Mama. In unison they all said, "Men!"


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Matt called Steve as they left the restaurant and told him about their idea. "Okay, tell you what. You two meet me here at my office and we'll hitch a ride with the Coast Guard. They've kind of got a stake in this, too."

Vince pulled into the parking lot a short time later and he and Matt went up to the Five-0 office. They rode with Steve and Danny to the cutter. On the way over, Matt elbowed Vince and winked. "So gnome, are you going to be diving with us?"

"Gnome?! Don't you dare start that again!" The short cop started puffing up like a toad and McGarrett was snickering along with the other two. "Honestly, it's not like I can do anything about my height, people."

"Do they even make swim fins in size gnome?" Vince just had to add to the pot.

By the time they made it to the dock, Danny was about to blow a gasket. "It sure is nice to have you two around," McGarrett said as he pulled his dive gear out of his truck. "Takes some of the heat off of me."

"No it doesn't." Danny looked like a banty rooster strutting up to the boat as the other three men continued to snicker.

The commander of the cutter got them out to the galleon wreck in no time and they were diving into the water in short order. They divided up the wreck into three sections. Matt had the center section and carefully swam into a hole that was in the side of the vessel. He shown his flashlight around the interior and began looking for the doubloons. Within a few minutes he had found three. He continued searching and swam out to meet up with Steve and Vince when he had finished.

Steve had the bow end of the ship and found one of the doubloons almost as soon as he started. That was the only one in his section. Vince had the stern section and found one of the coins just as Matt and Steve swam over to him. Matt held up the three that he had found while Steve and Vince held up their finds. All three swam up to the surface and re-boarded the cutter.

"So now we know about the other five." Matt grinned at the other two men.

"Yep, all we have to do now is find a murderer or two." Steve put the coins in an evidence bag as they started their trip back to port. After changing out of his dive gear he called Chin.

"Hey boss, we got a little information for you." Chin explained that the bookie had been in cahoots with Stewart and Daichi on the Spanish galleon wreck. They were trying to get funding to do a salvage job on the vessel and had planned to run off with the money. But he swears he didn't kill anyone."

"Okay, well we found the other five coins at the wreck. I guess Stewart was using them to seed the job. Now we just need to figure out the murders." Steve hung up and looked over at Matt.

Matt thanked the seaman who had brought all three of the men cups of coffee. He stood up and began pacing the deck of the cutter while Vince and Steve watched. Vince leaned over toward Steve. "This is the part where he usually figures out "whodunit". I think the pacing increases the blood flow to his brain."

Danny came over to sit with them. "What's with the caged lion routine?"

"It helps him think." Vince was grinning. "I can't even count how many times I've seen this happen."

Matt stopped, started to say something then shook his head and resumed pacing while the other three just watched. A couple of minutes later he stopped again and turned to Steve. "What do we know about Pika's parents?"

"They're an old family in the islands, descended from royalty." Steve wondered where he was going with it.

"Okay, here's what I'm thinking. If you or I had some Spanish doubloons, how likely would we be to keep them at home in a safe as opposed to in a bank?" He drank the last of his coffee.

Vince, Danny, and Steve looked at each other. "Son of a gun, they're in on it, too." Danny looked shocked.

On the way back to port, they decided to make a trip to Kauai to question Pika's parents again. Matt offered to fly them in his jet to cut down on the time it would take to requisition a flight. As they boarded the plane, Danny couldn't believe his eyes. "Man, this thing is nice!" Matt laughed. "I had thought about replacing it with a Gulfstream, but after doing some comparing, I'm better off with what I've got." He and Vince headed up to the cockpit while Danny and Steve settled into the cabin.

After taking off, Matt looked over at Vince with a shocked look on his face. "What?" Vince looked at the dials and gauges trying to see if there was a mechanical problem.

"I didn't call CJ. Take the yoke, Vince." He started scrambling for his phone as Vince started laughing.

"Oh man, has she got you trained." He was almost crying he was laughing so hard.

"It's a courtesy thing, Vince. Don't you tell Isabella where you're going?" Matt looked slightly disgruntled as he hit the speed dial on his phone. "Hey Babe, uh, we're going to be gone a while." He paused as CJ spoke. "Well, we're on the way to Kauai right now to talk to the girl's parents. We think they had a part in this whole thing." Another pause. "Yes ma'am, he's right here." Matt held out the phone to Vince.

"Yes ma'am? What are you like six? She's your wife, not your mother." He took the phone. "Yes CJ, I'll keep an eye on your little boy…oh, hi Isabella. Well, no, I just haven't…well I was about to call you…" He gave Matt a dirty look as he took back control of the jet. "Well sure, I just figured he was calling so you would know anyway." Another pause. "Okay, I will. Yes ma'am." He winced as Matt started laughing, as did Steve and Danny who could hear the whole thing. "Okay." He handed the phone back to Matt and took control of the plane again.

"Yeah, babe. Uh huh." He looked over at Vince and gave him a smirk. "Okay, I will. Love you, babe. 'Bye." He looked over at his friend again, trying not to laugh. "See Vince, courtesy." He snickered again and Vince knocked him on the back of the head, while Danny and Steve continued to laugh. Vince didn't have a whole lot to say for the rest of the forty five minute flight.

Once on the ground, the group was met by officers from the Kapa'a Police Department who escorted them to the home of Akamu and Leilani PIka. Steve and Vince spoke with Akamu outside, while Matt and Danny stayed inside to speak with Leilani. "Mrs. Pika," Matt walked over and looked out of the window, "we have cause to believe that you and your husband were in on the supposed theft of the doubloons." He turned back and looked at her.

"No! We didn't have anything to do with it! How can you even say such a thing?" The tears started flowing. "Our daughter was murdered by whoever did this and you point a finger at us?" She sat down on the couch and shot a look at Matt.

"Come on now, Mrs. Pika. We've got the rest of the coins and we know what happened." Danny sat down next to her. "Look, if you'll work with me here I can help you."

Matt shook his head no. "No, I don't think so. Both of them are in on it, Danny."

The pair had already worked out their good cop/bad cop routine on the ride over. "Now, look Houston, this poor lady is obviously not the ring leader. Look how upset she is."

"Nope they're all going to get a nice long stretch in prison." Matt glared at the woman. "I don't know why we're even bothering to talk to them. Not with the witness that we've already got testimony from. This is a waste of time. Go ahead and cuff her."

"Witness? What witness?" Leilani Pika looked back and forth between the two men.

"The one that tells us that you and your husband came up with the whole scheme." Matt's eyes were dark and his voice had taken on a low gravelly tone.

"Look, I didn't want to do it. It was his idea." She pointed to her husband who was outside.

"Oh, really? Thought you didn't have anything to do with it?" Matt had walked across the room and was standing about three feet in front of her.

"Look, I want a deal. You can do that, right?" She looked to Danny who seemed much more sympathetic.

"Yeah, we can do that, right?" He looked at Matt.

"It won't do her much good if he's already given her up, now will it?"

"Look, I'll tell you the whole thing. But you have to give me the deal, not him." She looked beseechingly at Danny. "We gave the coins to our daughter so that she and Alec could plant them on the Spanish galleon. We figured that we would split the money and move off somewhere where nobody knew us."

She continued to tell them how Alec had tried to double-cross them and had been working with Daichi at the coin shop to fence the coins. His bookie had overheard a phone conversation between the two and told the Yakuza boss that was in charge of the gambling house about it. Then he wanted in on the deal. Alec was trying to cross everybody: the Pikas, Daichi, the bookie, and the Yakuza boss.

Meanwhile, Steve and Vince were pulling the same routine on Akamu Pika and he caved just like his wife had. They loaded them up in the patrol cars and flew back to Honolulu. Akamu had even given up the name of the other Yakuza member, Yazuki Nokamori, who had attacked Matt, in exchange for a plea bargain. As it turned out, Nokamori had screwed up on too many jobs and was going to be killed by the Yakuza, so he spilled the beans on Daichi in order to get protection. Daichi had killed Alani Pika and Alec Stewart. He had killed Alani while Alec was down below on a dive. Then he had gone down and snuck up on the dive master and killed him, chaining him to the wreck. He didn't know that Stewart had the coins in his dive bag and had left the boat empty handed. When he didn't have the coins, the Yakuza boss had him killed.

"Boy talk about a mixed up mess. Can you believe that guy was trying to double cross everybody?" Matt just shook his head.

"Yeah, it's a mess alright. Guess I'm going to be in the middle of a mess when I get home, too." He gave Matt a dirty look.

"Now what did I do? Don't tell me you're still mad about the phone call thing." He looked back at the navigation screen.

"See you just don't get it because you two haven't been married that long. After you're married for a while you'll find out." Vince chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Vince." Matt started grinning.

"Oh shut up!" Vince popped him on the back of the head again.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

After going back to the Five-0 headquarters and giving their statements, Matt and Vince finally headed to the Novelli's house. On the way, Matt asked Vince to stop at a little market. When he came back out, he was carrying three bouquets of flowers.

"What in the heck are those for?" Vince looked at Matt like he had slipped his moorings.

"You mean to tell me you don't know - Mr. I've-Been-Married-For-Almost-Twenty-Years? I'm trying to help bail your butt out. Maybe you won't be sleeping on the couch tonight." He gave a big sigh.

Vince started the van and backed out of the parking space, continuing the trip home. "Wait a minute. I've got a wife and you've got a wife. What's with the third bouquet?"

Matt looked at his best friend. "Humph. Fat lot you know. You don't go taking flowers to two women in the household when there's another around. You have to get all of 'em flowers. Gees Vince, don't you know anything?"

Back at the house, the three women were waiting up for them. It was almost midnight when the van pulled into the drive. As they came through the door, Matt carrying one bouquet and Vince two, they gave out the flowers. Matt got a big hug and lengthy kiss from CJ, Vince got a hug from his mom, and Isabella just looked at him. Finally she smiled at him and gave him a hug. "I guess you can sleep in the bedroom tonight." Matt looked over CJ's head at Vince and winked, then tucked his head back down and started kissing CJ.


End file.
